Federal immigration officials planned to enforce immigration laws after temporary protected status of Haitian immigrants ended Feb. 3, according to newly filed court documents, but the Department of Homeland Security stated it had not planned “specific actions.”
Any enforcement plans against Haitian TPS holders were made moot when U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Ana Reyes ruled on Feb. 2 in favor of those who sued seeking to stall cancellation of TPS. The Trump administration is appealing the ruling.
But Reyes ordered DHS on Feb. 6 to file a sworn statement about enforcement plans from a senior department official no later than 10 a.m. on Feb. 10.
Liana Castano, who identifies herself as the DHS assistant director for field operations, specifically within Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Enforcement and Removal Operations, signed the statement on Feb. 10, according to court records.
State and local officials have said they were preparing for an immigration enforcement blitz in Springfield, Ohio, home to about 15,000 Haitians, and in Columbus, where about 30,000 Haitians live. There are an estimated 350,000 Haitians with TPS designation in the United States. But Castano wrote that DHS did not have plans for “specific actions.”
In Castano’s sworn statement, she says she has worked for ICE for almost 20 years and has been in her current position since July 2025 on both an interim and permanent basis.
Castano says she is not aware of DHS planning “specific actions” that involved mobilizing ICE agents to areas where there are large concentrations Haitian TPS holders.
“DHS did not take action to enforce the termination … because the termination was stayed,” Castano says. “However, if the termination had not been stayed, DHS would have acted to enforce the immigration laws in light of the termination, just as it has acted to enforce immigration laws against past TPS holders.”
Castano says in the statement that ICE operations happen on a daily basis across the country, including Springfield and South Florida − both areas Reyes had specifically asked for details on.
President Donald Trump’s administration has requested a pause of Reyes’ Feb. 2 order — in effect asking to allow the TPS designation to expire — while the administration appeals her decision to a federal appeals court.
In the order requesting the DHS statement, Reyes said the information provided would help her make a determination on the stay request.
“Either the Government does not have any concrete plans to detain and initiate removal proceedings against Haitian TPS holders if the Court stays its decision pending litigation and therefore its own … argument is suspect,” Reyes wrote. “Or the Government does have such concrete plans and therefore its argument that Plaintiffs will suffer no ‘irreparable harm’ is suspect.”
On Feb. 9, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said ICE has said they will give him 24 hours notice of any planned uptick in any enforcement action in Springfield.
The same day, bomb threats were emailed to dozens of schools and government buildings in Columbus, Clark County and across the state. The threats are being investigated by the FBI. DeWine said the threats were calling to “get rid of the Haitians.”
In a statement released on social media on Feb. 9, Clark County Sheriff Chris Clark said the threats in that community, which shut down portions of downtown Springfield, were “just a few of many” and appear to be hoaxes sent by “overseas actors.”
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ICE ‘would have acted’ if Haiti immigration protection ended, official says
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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